This represents an unprecedented influx of state and federal support for clean energy in Pennsylvania, including a just-announced $303.5 million closed loan from the US Department of Energy for Eos Energy Enterprises, and has made the Pittsburgh region a clean energy gateway for the state.
The recent successes are built on a foundation of extensive data about the workforce, economic, environmental, and health benefits of investment in clean energy from research entities including the Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI).
The programs and organizations driving the clean energy workforce investments include Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA), Pennsylvania Solar Center, Southwestern Pennsylvania Municipal Project Hub (SWPA Project Hub), Capital Good Fund, Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, and Eos Energy Enterprises.
Many of the organizations have received philanthropic funding, including from the Endowments, for planning, building and implementing the programs that made it easier for individuals, schools, businesses and municipalities to apply for funding for clean energy projects.
In addition to philanthropic support for organizations to build the underlying infrastructure for identifying and accessing funding, the 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act is among the sources of funds awarded and includes a clean energy component that offers tax breaks and rebates for consumers, developers and manufacturers that invest in solar power systems.
The IRA also provides funding for electric vehicles and charging equipment, energy-saving appliances, battery-storage systems, and heat pumps, and has awarded a national total of nearly $8.4 billion in clean energy tax credits as of May 2024.
Nearly $5 billion in federal grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program is also a source of the influx of clean energy funding.
“This moment has been nearly two years in the making,” said Endowments President Chris DeCardy. “Sound research showing the potential for a clean energy economy gave us the data needed to engage with organizations about creating the infrastructure necessary for access to state and federal funds. The framework they built is now paying off in a big way with new investments and job creation, as well as the considerable health and environmental benefits of clean energy.”
Data, Research and Public Support
Following the spring 2023 release of ORVI’s “Green Steel in the Ohio River Valley: The Timing is Right for the Rebirth of a Clean, Green Steel Industry” study, the organization’s executive director, Joanne Kilgour, briefed key figures in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Energy Programs offices on its findings.
This set the stage for a second report that outlined in detail the technical pathways necessary to achieve decarbonization of the state’s industrial sector.
The report, joined with the DEP’s own research, provided both near and long-term targets that gave the state critical background for creation of its RISE PA decarbonization program.
RISE PA was constructed as a primary component of the state’s application for a $440 million Climate Pollution Reduction grant.
To create public support for the RISE PA submission, ORVI joined with Evergreen Action, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Moms Clean Air Force, and state officials for a public event in April of this year.
The event garnered positive media headlines, including one stating “We can have both,” referring to job creation and lower industrial pollution.
qSeveral months later in July 2024, RISE PA was awarded a $396 million Climate Pollution Reduction grant from the Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Inflation Reduction Act. The award is the second-largest federal investment in the state’s history.
“We are happy to have played a part in providing well-researched data and in helping build the partnerships that made possible this hopeful step toward building a new, clean energy economy for the region,” said Ms. Kilgour of ORVI.
Solar Projects
Pennsylvania Solar Center has spent the past several years building infrastructure that simplifies access to clean energy funding.
Supported in part by the Endowments, the Center designed an infrastructure for nonprofits, municipalities, and businesses to easily navigate solar-related feasibility assessments, proposal applications, and funding opportunities.
Pennsylvania Solar Center’s carefully considered process for simplifying access to solar is a primary reason the nonprofit created Pennsylvania’s Galvanizing Energy Transition (GET) Solar program in 2019.
Building on the infrastructure they put in place for the GET Solar program, the organization is also helping schools access a recently announced $25 million in state funding for solar installations for public K-12 schools, community colleges, and career technical schools.
The most recent federal data from Endowments grantee PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center shows that while Pennsylvania’s solar energy production has tripled in the past half-decade, the state ranks 26th when compared to all states.
“Interest in solar installations has risen sharply in Pennsylvania over the past two years, and we are honored to play a part in those wins,” said Sharon Pillar, founder and executive director of Pennsylvania Solar Center. “We still have a lot of work to do to catch up to other states, but we hope our formula of fostering partnerships with nonprofits and philanthropy to create a trusted framework for solar access inspires others to jump into the game.”
“The benefits that solar energy provides for schools, nonprofits, businesses and municipalities are clearer than ever,” said Ms. Pillar. “As energy prices rise, those with solar see reduced electricity bills and have a stable energy price for 25 years or more. These savings allow entities to divert precious resources toward the missions of their organizations, hire more workers, and expand services for their communities.”
The Endowments’ investment in creating the infrastructure for accessing funds for solar energy in the region and state has also included a $500,000 grant to Capital Good Fund, a nonprofit certified by the U.S. Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution.
The organization launched Pennsylvania Building, Renewables, Investing in Green, Healthy, Thriving (BRIGHT), a pilot solar leasing program for low-to-moderate-income households in southwestern Pennsylvania in fall of this year.
The program provides guidance and application assistance for homeowners to gain access to $1.15 million in funding for home solar installations.
Homeowners with solar installations have an estimated savings of 20% on their monthly energy bill.
“Increased access to renewable energy is essential to easing the disproportionate energy burden working families carry,” said Capital Good Fund founder and CEO Andy Posner in the September 2024 announcement of the program.
Clean Energy Opportunities for Schools, Nonprofits, Local Municipalities
In addition to access to federal funding for solar projects, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Municipal Project Hub was created to help communities, schools, nonprofits, and local government leaders access financial support for a host of other clean energy projects, including energy efficiency and building upgrades, environmental remediation, climate resiliency efforts, and air and water quality improvements.
Launched in February of this year with funding from the Endowments, the Hub is a hands-on coordination center that helps communities – many in smaller towns and rural areas with limited civic improvement resources – in planning and applying for funding for clean energy and environment-focused projects.
In addition to the Inflation Reduction Act, the Hub accesses funding from a host of sources, including the Thriving Communities grantmaking program, which is part of the EPA’s Green and Healthy Home Initiative, and the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority’s Municipal Opportunities for Retrofits and Energy Efficiency Program.
Community Benefits Plans Play Critical Role in Funding
Recognizing opportunities to both build the clean energy workforce in southwestern Pennsylvania and lessen carbon emissions on a state and national level, the Endowments funded the nonprofit Main ST early this year for a project involving Eos Energy Enterprises’ state-of-the-art zinc battery manufacturing facility in Turtle Creek.
Main ST organized a coalition of stakeholders who helped create the Community Benefits Plan required by the federal Department of Energy in order for Eos to ultimately secure a $303.5 million loan to expand the facility.
The plan involved six workforce development listening sessions in communities surrounding the Monongahela Valley in the lead-up to the loan submission.
The results included a commitment by Eos to partner with Mon Metro Chamber of Commerce to explore solutions to address gaps in STEM programming in local high schools, drive efforts to create new affordable housing, and to advance stabilization and decarbonization of the region’s power grid, which regularly experiences outages during periods of rainfall.
The plan was deemed viable, and Eos received confirmation of a closed loan for $303.5 million in early December 2024.
The project is expected to maintain and create up to 1,000 temporary and permanent jobs.
“The on-the-ground organizing that Main ST did in connecting Eos with our neighboring municipalities and in helping us develop a meaningful Community Benefits Plan played a key part in our Department of Energy loan submission,” said Eos Energy’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Public Affairs Chad FitzGerald. “The loan they helped us obtain will both build the region’s clean energy workforce and lead to less polluted air for Pennsylvania and our country as a whole.”
Assistance in building Community Benefits Agreements for entities applying for federal funding for clean energy projects was also provided by the nonprofit Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation.
It gave guidance to CorePower Magnetics, a manufacturer of high-performance electronic components, in the creation of the plan that was included in its application for funding from U.S. Department of Energy.
In late 2023, CorePower was awarded $20 million in funding for construction of a new manufacturing facility southwestern Pennsylvania.
The Community Benefits Plan submitted with their US Department of Energy application focused on hiring practices that recapture local jobs and tax revenues that have been lost as coal mining and traditional energy generation in the region decreased over the past decade.
Pittsburgh Gateways has also partnered with fellow nonprofits and Endowments grantees Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance and the Energy Innovation Center in the creation of a clean energy workforce training program.
Based at the Energy Innovation Center, the program features a training and placement center for energy auditors and weatherization workers.
A host of other major green energy wins for the state and region involved Endowments funding for capacity building and infrastructure support in advance of their eventual grants or loans, including:
-- Mainspring Energy announced in late October 2024 that it was awarded an $87 million grant from the Department of Energy to build a low-emission linear generator production plant in Allegheny County, creating an estimated 600 new jobs. The Endowments provided a capacity-building grant to Allegheny County to support their role in preparation of the application that resulted in the funding.
-- Pittsburgh Water received $69 million in Environmental Protection Agency funding for replacement of water main and lead pipelines, with the Endowments supporting the federal grant writer who secured the funds.
-- International Living Futures Institute was awarded a $4.6 million Environmental Protection Agency Clean Construction Materials grant; the Endowments was among those that submitted letters of support for the Institute’s application.
-- Allegheny County Conservation District was granted $894,000 to support regional urban farming, with the Endowments-supported SWPA Hub providing grant-writing assistance.
-- Landforce, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, and Philadelphia’s PowerCorpsPHL were awarded a combined $13.9 million from the Environmental Protection Agency to create infrastructure for projects including workforce development initiatives that provide career pathways in land stewardship and tree care services. A $400,000 Endowments grant to Landforce in 2022 supported staff expansion, helping the organization prepare for submission of the grant.
“We are encouraged by the results of our support to organizations for building easy-to-navigate structures for those in our region and across the state to access clean energy funding,” said Matt Barron, program director for Sustainability at the Endowments. “Our hope is that the jobs and investment coming to our region from growth sectors like clean energy and clean manufacturing will help to depoliticize the issues, create new wealth and prosperity in our communities, and contribute to a more diverse and sustainable regional economy.”
The Heinz Endowments seeks to help our region thrive as a whole and just community and, through that work, to model solutions to major national and global challenges.
We are devoted to advancing our vision of southwestern Pennsylvania as a vibrant center of creativity, learning, and social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
Our work is supported by reliable data based on equitable, results-focused goals to cultivate a world where all are treated with fairness and respect and have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential.
[Posted: December 4, 2024] PA Environment Digest
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